City To Spend $3 Mil For Rockaway Beach Replenishment After Advocates Push

John Cori of Friends of Rockaway Beach shows how erosion has plagued sections of the shoreline. The group has urged city officials to fund beach replenishment projects and lobbied federal officials to complete a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that would help determine more permanent solutions. (John Taggart For New York Daily News)

Queens

Sand-starved sections of Rockaway Beach, battered by erosion and Hurricane Irene, could be replenished later this year, according to the city Parks Department.

The Bloomberg administration made a last-minute $3 million allocation to the agency’s budget to pay for the project, according to the NY Daily News.

The money will be used to transfer sand dredged from the East Rockaway Inlet by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“Making the two projects synchronize will be a challenge,” said Bill Tai, principal environmental planner at the Parks Department. “We will work with the Army Corps to move the sand where we think it’s needed most, roughly between Beach 85th St. and Beach 105th St. centered around Beach 92nd St.”

That news was hailed by beach advocates who embarked on an aggressive “Demand the Sand” campaign to get the attention of city and local officials.

“Friends of Rockaway Beach is excited about the news,” the group said in a statement.

“We are aware this is a temporary fix to our erosion issues and look forward to the conclusion of the 2004 Rockaway Reformulation Study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to find a permanent solution to the dangers of erosion.”

Tai said the city is also hoping additional funds are found to jump-start the federal study, which will help determine whether additional jetties or other structures are needed to fend off the endless cycle of erosion.

City Councilman Eric Ulrich credited Friends of Rockaway Beach and other residents for keeping the pressure on agency and city officials.

And he pointed out the sand is not just a recreational issue in Rockaway. It’s a safety concern.

“The Rockaway beaches were in desperate need of replenishment,” said Ulrich (R-Ozone Park).

“Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc in Rockaway. It left people and property at risk.”

On some parts of the peninsula, the sand and the boardwalk are the only barriers between homes and raging waters during storms.

Tai said there is no set timeframe for the project, but it could start as early as the fall.

Once the sand is dredged from the East Rockaway Inlet, it could be moved by ship or piped to the western beaches.

“We would like to make this happen as soon as possible,” he said. “We are hoping to get between 100,000 and 150,000 cubic yards of sand.”

If more sand is available, it will be used to fill beaches in Far Rockaway in the area of Beach 20th St. and Beach 30th St.

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Long-Awaited Boardwalk Repair Work Underway At Rockaway Beach

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski and Parks Department Chief Engineer John Natoli inspect the repairs being made to the boardwalk on Friday near Beach 101st St. Hurricane Irene caused extensive damage to the boardwalk in August. Critics have complained about a lack of urgency from the City in dealing with various issues at the beach. (Photo: Anthony Delmundo/for the New York Daily News )

Queens

With the start of beach season just two weeks away, workers are busy repairing storm-ravaged sections of the boardwalk in Rockaway, according to the New York Daily News.

The damage dates back to August when Hurricane Irene blew through the Rockaways, tearing away planks of the wooden walkway and ripping apart adjacent park fencing.

The powerful storm surge pushed out fascia boards that run under the boardwalk, allowing water and sand to pour out into Shore Front Parkway.

The $3.8 million rebuilding project will continue through the start of the season, said Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski.

“We haven’t had anything as serious as this in the Rockaways in decades,” Lewandowski said.

Lewandowski and John Natoli, the agency’s chief engineer, inspected some of the work last Friday during a visit to a particularly hard-hit stretch from Beach 91st St. to Beach 101st St.

Parks Department workers made some emergency repairs to the area after the storm, but contracting for more extensive work was delayed due to funding issues and visits from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) inspectors.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall put in $1.1 million and City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) is paying for another $500,000 of the contract. The balance is being paid by the city with the hopes it will be reimbursed by FEMA.

Lewandowski said the project includes reconstruction of the ramp at Beach 91st St., fascia boards from 89th to 92nd streets and sections of the boardwalk at 95th, 101st, 102nd, 107th and 108th streets.

Natoli said the fascia boards will be spaced apart in an effort to allow some water to pass through as a sort of relief valve.

But John Cori of Friends of Rockaway Beach said he is concerned that there is still no plan for sand replenishment or completion of a longer-term study to reduce beach erosion.

“We are so vulnerable,” said Cori, whose group is sponsoring a “Demand the Sand” rally on Sunday at Beach 87th St. “Officials have to come up with money to pump in some sand and get the [U.S.] Army Corps of Engineers to finish its study.”

Lewandowski said some sand will be moved to the most heavily eroded sections around Beach 101st St. to create a berm.

But she agreed that sand replenishment and the study are key to preventing future storm damage.

“That’s a big issue for us,” said Jonathan Gaska, the district manager of Community Board 14.

“It’s about safety.”

Read More:

Long-awaited repair work underway at Rockaway Beach

$3.8 million reconstruction will continue through the start of beach season

New York Daily News - May 14, 2012 - By Lisa L. Colangelo

Disparity - Rockaways’ Infrastructure Repairs Need High Line Priority

A Walk In The Park - March 26, 2012

Disparity - Rockaways’ Infrastructure Repairs Need High Line Priority

John Cori, the founder of Friends of Rockaway Beach, points out severely eroded section of boardwalk at Beach 90th St. He has been sounding the alarm of the deplorable infrastructure conditions of beaches, parks and boardwalk in the Rockaways and the damage caused by Tropical Storm Irene. He has also pointed out the huge disparity of what certain communities and parks receive as compared to others. (Photo: Christie M. Farriella for the New York Daily News.

Queens

The Rockaways suffered major damage during Tropical Storm Irene last August.

Significant erosion took away even more of our continuously diminishing beaches. The Rockaway Beach boardwalk sustained damage to its deck, beach side staircases and ramps, along with destruction of wood skirting along Shore Front Parkway. Aside from some sand cleanup and some safety netting and fencing, everything still looks the same today as it did a day after the storm. City Parks Department personnel in he Rockaways did the very best they could with what they had, according to an Op-Ed written by Friends of Rockawy Beach founder John Cory published in the New York Daily News.

Hurrican Irene battered the beaches and boardwalk in Rockaway Beach this summer. Local leaders said they are still waiting for much-needed repairs. (Photo: Craig Warga/NY Daily News)

Unfortunately what Parks didn’t have enough of was money, or so it says. In November, our beach activist group, Friends of Rockaway Beach, met with Queens Parks Commissioner Dorthy Lewandowski to discuss the deplorable conditions of the infrastructure at our beaches, parks and boardwalk here in the Rockaways and the damage caused by Irene.

At that meeting we receive a truly heartfelt apology that there was just no money in the $250 million Parks Department budget to address much needed major infrastructure repairs along Shore Front Parkway, no money to repair rapidly decaying boardwalk infrastructure and no money to repair storm damage. We were told that we would have to wait and see if the feds would come through with emergency funding to repair storm damage.

Parks is in the final stages of a $38 million renovation in Far Rockaway. This is a much needed, long overdue project that will serve that community for years to come, but is little relief to the rest of the peninsula.

Imagine Parks telling the people of Harlem, Washington Heights, or Inwood that there is just no money to renovate Fort Tryon Park or Inwood Hill Park, but feel free to use the High Line.

Recently $3 million was allocated by various government agencies to repair the boardwalk, and the work has begun. While we welcome this as good news, we here in the Rockaways were surprised to learn that the city plans to begin a $90 million expansion of the High Line on the West Side of Manhattan.

It boggles the mind how the city can find boat loads of cash for the High Line, yet we are told time and time again there’s just no money for the Rockaways. I’m sure we will be told that Friends of the High Line will raise a “good portion” of the $90 million, but it should be pointed out that Friends of the High Line put up less than 35% of the cost of the High Line’s first phase and the city contributed well over $100 million.

While we wait for funding for much needed revitalization of Rockaway beaches, parks and boardwalk, we’ve just been blindsided with devastating news of the suspension of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Rockaway Beach Reformulation study. The $5-million, 10-year study began in 2003 to come up with a permanent solution to the erosion sustained year after year along our beaches.

Since it began, the study has been suspended several times due to lack of funding. The current federal budget did not include the $1.5 million needed for its completion, and without it, the beaches face possible long-term closure and our boardwalk and neighborhoods will face a greater susceptibility to storm surge during nor'easters, tropical storms or hurricanes.

For well over 100 years he Rockaway’s have provided millions of people a year some of the most authentic, traditional beach-going experiences they will ever find, bringing people together from all walks of life and every race and creed from every part of the world.

On a hot summer day we can have more people here than Central Park, Prospect Park and Flushing Meadow-Corona Park combined. Surfers from all over the world come to enjoy the greatest surf in the Northeast on two spectacular dedicated surfing beaches.

Repair of storm damage is very welcome news, but it is only a drop in the bucket considering the scope of the work that needs to be done.

To borrow a phrase from “The Lorax,” “Unless someone like our elected officials cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

John Cori is the founder of Friends of Rockaway Beach

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New York Daily News - February 23 2012 - By Lisa L. Colangelo

Rockaway still waiting for beach repairs three months after it was battered

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New York Daily News - November 23, 2011 - By Lisa L. Colangelo